Sleeping Arrangements
by Elfpen
Summary: Stoick and Toothless are at odds as to where an over-protective Night Fury should sleep. Hiccup is at a loss of what to do, until Toothless decides to take matters into his own hands – er, claws. Oneshot. A/N: And now, I give you: The Sequel
1. Sleeping Arrangements

Title: Sleeping Arrangements

Author: Elfpen

Summary: Stoick and Toothless are at odds as to where an over-protective Night Fury should sleep. Hiccup is at a loss of what to do, until Toothless decides to take matters into his own hands – er, claws.

Author's Note: After I saw this movie for the first time, I knew it was only a matter of time before the plot bunnies attacked. I have become quite enamored with Toothless and his buddies over the past week. I'm sure my annoyed and sufficiently dragon-ed out family can testify to the fact that I am completely and helplessly obsessed with the How to Train Your Dragon movie. Really, has a more adorable film existed?! *hugs Toothless* And so here is one of the many results of my newfound obsession.

* * *

The first time, it was downright terrifying.

The second time, it was frightening.

The third time, it made him jump.

The fourth time, it was enough to make him do a double-take.

But by the fifth time that Stoick the Vast had woken up to find a sleeping Night Fury hanging from the living room rafters, it had become downright annoying.

The dragon slept inverted like a bat, which wouldn't have been a problem, if he hadn't insisted on doing so _right _in front of the front door. All Stoick wanted to do was to get up, get to his morning affairs in the town, and get on with his day. But unfortunately, all this required the ability to get out of the house, which was quite impossible with a drowsy – no, scratch that, _dead –_ Night Fury blocking the way. Toothless didn't snore, fidget, growl, or move in his sleep. In fact, that was the crux of the problem. The beast slept more soundly than a rock.

Cautiously, Stoick shoved the dragon to one side, wondering if this would rouse the creature. It did not, and instead, Toothless simply swayed back and forth like a giant black pendulum until he slowly settled back into his former position, having not moved a single muscle. With a sigh, Stoick shoved the massive black body to one side, holding it there this time, and reached for the door handle with his free hand. He hesitated at the last moment, and glanced at the dragon beside him. Not one of the scaly features betrayed any consciousness. His large eyes were still beneath their lids, and his ears hung limply from his crown. He was altogether too peaceful. Stoick narrowed his eyes at the beast before looking back at his hand resting on the door latch. _This _was the _truly _annoying bit. Biting back a hint of what could have been dread (an emotion completely unbecoming for a Viking Chieftain, Stoick decided) he put his weight on the handle and let the door swing open.

Two green eyes snapped open. For quick thuds, a ruffle of wings, and a low, rumbling growl. Within a few seconds, two massive paws were square on his chest with a mouthful of snarling ivory teeth hovering above him. He sighed in exasperation and rolled his eyes.

"HICCUP!"

* * *

Hiccup tumbled out of bed and crashed to the floor. It had become a rather routine awakening as of late, but his father's voice never managed to diminish in volume. He scrambled for his prosthetic foot and strapped it into place clumsily. Sleep still lingering over him, he hobbled to his door and looked down from the top of the stairs.

He could see Toothless' back, his haunches raised, ears back, shoulders prominent over a strong neck and, indignantly framed between the bends of his sleek black wings was the reddened face of Stoick, his father. Hiccup would have laughed, if he hadn't been so sleepy and so incredibly tired of having to rescue his father from his over-protective dragon.

Hiccup sighed and grabbed onto a thick rope that fell past the stairs from a pulley attached to the ceiling. It was an invention of his that he'd conjured up after having found out the hard way that it was incredibly difficult to walk up stairs with a prosthetic leg. With a simplistic yet reliable system of pulleys, ropes and weights, he managed to make a means of getting to and from his second-story room without having to clamber his way up the stairs. He set his bare right foot in the rope loop that was at convenient floor height and stepped off the second story balcony to slowly and comfortably drop to ground floor. The rope slowly rose back up to its original position as he stepped off.

"Toothless, we've talked about this." He said to his dragon's back. "He's not going to hurt you." Toothless growled. Hiccup sighed. "Or me. Now get off of him."

The dragon didn't move, but instead whisked his tail back and forth anxiously. Hiccup felt a pang of annoyance towards the Night Fury. Toothless was his best friend in the world, but after just a few short weeks of being officially instated into the Haddock household, Toothless still hadn't quite grasped the idea that it was Stoick who was the head of the house, not Toothless. Despite the apology that the Viking Chief had given the dragon after the battle of the Green Death, Toothless and Stoick were by no means best buddies, and unfortunately, as Hiccup had learned, the dragon's judgment was foggy at best when he was sleepy. Because of this, he often mistook Stoick leaving the house as a vicious intruder who was (quite obviously, in Toothless' mind) out to hurt his human. On this assumption, Toothless took appropriate guard-dragon actions. The incidents would have made Hiccup laugh, if his father didn't always glare up at him like he was now.

"Toothless, come on, buddy. It's just dad. I'm right here. Alive, intact, healthy. Now get off of him." Hiccup held back a yawn.

The dragon turned his head around to look at Hiccup with bright eyes. His growl turned to an inquisitive sort of whine, and he looked back around to Stoick, then to Hiccup, and back again. After a moment of internal debate, the dragon finally decided that the apprehended intruder was, in fact, Hiccup's father, and therefore could be set free. He sat back and watched the man heave himself upright in a slightly clumsy, undignified way. The dragon offered no apology, but simply looked the man up and down, nodded with an indifferent snort, and meandered back towards the large hearth before plopping himself down by the fire.

"Hiccup, you can't let him go on like this. I won't allow it." Stoick told his son. Hiccup sighed.

"I'm sorry, dad he's just trying to protect us-"

"Trying to protect _you, _Hiccup."

And once it was said, both knew it was true. Toothless was quite indifferent towards the Viking chief, but Hiccup? He would protect Hiccup until his final breath was torn from him at the blade of an axe. Hiccup made a few attempts to answer his father, but couldn't come up with anything credible to say, and so simply rubbed his neck anxiously and averted his eyes. Stoick sighed.

"Hiccup, if he keeps this up much longer, he's sleeping outside." Stoick said, before turning towards the door once more. After once glance back towards his only son, the chief left.

As the door shut closed, Hiccup sighed and turned to glare at the heap of black scales by the smoldering fire.

"Toothless, I _know _you want to protect me, but he's my _dad. _He doesn't want me harmed any more than you do. You can't tackle him every single morning – he carries an axe with him!" Hiccup sighed and moved closer to Toothless, who had his back turned. "His patience is wearing thin as it is… Buddy, I don't want him to hurt you."

Toothless snorted, as if this notion was amusing. Hiccup glowered at the dragon.

"It's not funny. And for the record, I don't want _you _hurting _him, _either. You need to find some other place to sleep, buddy." Hiccup finished and waited for some response from the dragon.

Hiccup counted to fifteen before the beast let out a small shot of blue flame to re-light the embers in the fireplace. He dug his chin between his paws, pulled his wings closer to him, and did no more. After another long stretch of silence, Hiccup sighed and turned away. Now that he was up, he might as well get ready for the day.

If he had bothered to look at Toothless' expression, however, he might have noticed the thoughtful look that crossed the dragon's face as he gazed into the fire.

* * *

Later that evening, Hiccup stumbled back into his house, worn out. He worked hard each day to familiarize the people of his village with dragons, but, still in the process of adjusting to his prosthetic leg, even the simplest exercises were taxing. But he loved the dragons, loved the opportunity to teach his people about them, and Toothless was always there for him with a supporting shoulder and an encouraging croon any time his leg began to ache.

Speaking of Toothless, where was he? Hiccup glanced about the large house, but saw no sign of his friend.

"Hey, dad." Hiccup said weakly, lifting a hand in greeting to his father, who sat by the fire, roasting fish. Stoick smiled at his son, and lifted his pike of fish. "Evening. Like some?" He said, motioning with his fish. Even from where he was, Hiccup's nose told him that the fish would taste horrible. Not that Stoick would notice. His pallet could recognize only one flavor – food. His son, on the other hand…

"No thanks. I already ate." Hiccup bluffed. His father shrugged.

"Suit yourself." He went back to roasting the skewered cod.

Trying to be discreet, Hiccup went behind his father and grabbed a hunk of bread from the small basket of food that rested next to him, and bit into it. He munched on it in silence, all the while casting about his home for any sign of Toothless. Finally, after swallowing the last bite, he turned to his father.

"Have you seen Toothless anywhere?" He asked casually. Stoick shrugged without turning around.

"Nope. Haven't seen head or hide of him all day. Well, except this morning, of course." Stoick said, in a way that told Hiccup that he wasn't too concerned for the fact.

"Well, alright." Hiccup said with a sigh. "I'm gonna go ahead and turn in. Good night, dad."

"Good night, son."

Hiccup nodded and turned towards the stairs. He set his foot in the loop of the rope at the floor, and pulled a latch set near the wall. A turning of gears cloud be heard, and he gracefully ascended to land at the stair balcony. He hit another latch, and the gears reversed to return the rope to the first story. He absently rubbed his face with his hands as he entered his room and softly shut the door behind him. Sighing tiredly, he collapsed on his bed, not bothering to remove his prosthetic just yet, and sighed into his pillow. A soft breeze blew across his face, and he could hear the trees rustling just outside his window.

Wait, a soft breeze?

His green eyes flickered over to the open window on the other side of the room, which he could have sworn he'd locked closed just earlier that day. Curious, he rose and slowly walked over to the window, his uneven gait breaking the evening's silence with a soft thumping noise on the wooden floor. He reached the window and leaned out, peering this way and that, looking for any sign as to why the window had mysteriously opened itself. He saw nothing out of the ordinary. Bushes. Houses. Fields of sheep. A pair of glowing green eyes watching him from a nearby tree.

Wait, _what?! _

Before he could even react, a huge shadow propelled itself through his window and tackled him into a rolling summersault. Suddenly, he found himself pinned to the ground by two familiar paws. The only thing he could see in the darkness were those two green eyes watching him, until a pink mass appeared just below them and Toothless licked his master with his huge forked tongue, covering Hiccup in dragon saliva and causing half of his hair to stick up at an odd angle. Hiccup chuckled.

"Toothless! What are you doing up here? Where have you been?" He asked, clambering up from the ground and wiping the spit away from his eyes and mouth. Toothless rumbled a response that only Hiccup could understand, and the boy put a hand to the dragon's snout.

"Well, it's time for bed, now. I guess you should get back downstairs." He sighed. "I hope dad doesn't get mad again…" He opened the door and stepped aside for Toothless to pass. Toothless looked over at his master confusedly and planted his bottom down where he was, his gaze telling Hiccup that he had no intentions of leaving. The boy sighed.

"Toothless, it's _bedtime_, now. That means you have to go to _sleep_." Hiccup motioned emphatically towards the door again. Toothless blinked and remained where he was.

Hiccup sighed. "Fine." He said, swinging the door shut. "_I _am going to bed. If you want to go downstairs, feel free." Hiccup sat on his bed and worked at getting his prosthetic foot unstrapped. "But I will be sleeping up here, so you can just – AHH! Toothless, what are you doing?!" Suddenly, the skinny boy was floating in mid-air, his shirt hiked up awkwardly around him as Toothless effortlessly lifted him by the collar of his tunic.

"Toothless, put me down!" Hiccup tried to glare up at the black beast, who looked down at the boy calmly, and then, with him still hanging from his mouth, started over towards the window.

Hiccup's voiced protests and flailing about of his arms and leg-and-a-half amounted to nothing, and he soon found himself on the floor by the window with two lamplike green eyes watching him again.

"What has gotten into you?" Hiccup asked his friend. He attempted to rise, but found himself without his prosthetic. He unsteadily rose to his one foot, glaring at his dragon the whole time, and slowly began to inch-hop over to his bed. "I told you." He huffed between hops. "I.. Am going… To sleep. It's too late for play time, buddy."

Toothless tilted his head in a way that said: 'Now why would you do a silly thing like that?'. As his master traversed his room one inch at a time in a remarkably determined way, Toothless rose and twirled around in circles, finding a comfortable spot on the floor before laying down. He watched his hobbling human for a moment more, before lunging a few feet over to grasp the boy's collar in his teeth once more and yank him backwards toward him.

His one unsteady leg torn out from under him, Hiccup flew backwards and was dropped unceremoniously against Toothless' side. A one-finned tail curled around him and he could feel the dragon's shoulders shift so that his head could turn to rest comfortably in the boy's lap. A contented rumble vibrated against his back, and the Night Fury sighed happily against his human, a dragon-smile on his scaly lips.

Taken aback, Hiccup simply sat there for a moment while Toothless shifted around him, making himself comfortable for the night and doing what he could to nestle Hiccup even further into his grasp. A black wing dropped down to blanket the boy snuggly against the dragon's belly, and Toothless snuggled his large black head affectionately against his favorite Viking.

Hiccup found himself chuckling once he realized what Toothless was doing. "I suppose you think you'll just sleep up here with me, huh?"

Toothless looked up at him with big dragon eyes and cooed an affirmative. 'Easier to protect you that way.' His gaze said.

Hiccup smiled, and relaxed against the black body. "Well, alright. Have it your way." He smiled, and settled down against the warm nest his dragon's body formed. It was very comfortable there, made even more so by the clear affection that Toothless had for his master as he purred contentedly and further curled himself around him. Hiccup smiled and laid down beside the warm belly, his body cushioned and blanketed by two massive black wings. He closed his eyes and laid his head near Toothless' heart. As he drifted towards unconsciousness to the sound of the dragon's heartbeat, Hiccup decided that something about the familiar, warm presence made Toothless' embrace an even more comfortable place to sleep than his own bed.

* * *

He sighed as he walked into the living room, rubbing his eyes with a large hand. Mentally, he prepared himself for another attack from Hiccup's resident bodyguard. It really was ridiculous, he thought, and completely inappropriate that a Viking chief would be attacked each morning, in his own home, by a _Night Fury, _of all things. His _son's _Night Fury. Casually, he fingered the axe that he carried with him at all times, and his instincts told him to 'take care' of the beast the easy way – a good bashing upside the head to knock some sense into his dragon brain. But he immediately dispelled the idea. Annoying or not, the dragon had saved his son's life, and he had a feeling that whacking it about with the flat of his axe wasn't exactly a good way to repay him – much less give him any reason to trust the Viking any more (or less) than he already did.

With a sigh, Stoick resigned himself to the inevitable, and opened his eyes to glare over at the sleeping black dragon that he knew would be dangling from his ceiling, inconveniently in front of his door, right over… There. Stoick stared confusedly at the spot where Toothless should have been hanging, sleeping. But strangely, the dragon was nowhere to be seen. Now curious, the large man went over to the door and opened it, for some reason expecting the dragon to be snoozing right outside the door like a giant guard dog. Still, no Toothless. This was strange indeed. Had his son left with the dragon already? Stoick glanced up the stairs to see that Hiccup's door was still closed. No, the boy was still sleeping. So then, where was the dragon?

"HICCUP!"

* * *

Hiccup awoke with a jolt, and he immediately started wondering where he was. Something black and fleshy covered him, and could feel a pulsating thump against his back. The mystery was solved when Toothless heaved a huge breath and his ears twitched in his sleep. Hiccup looked down at the dragon's head for a moment and recalled the events of last night with a small smile. He shook if off quickly, though. His father had called him, which meant he should probably be downstairs as quickly as he could, and so he worked to disentangle himself from Toothless' grasp. Well, he tried to, at any rate. The dragon, however, had different ideas. Still sleeping soundly, Toothless tightened himself around the boy, a drowsy reptilian smile on his face.

"Toothless, wake up." Hiccup whispered to the dragon. No response. He huffed. "Come on, you overgrown lizard, move!" he heaved at the large tail that blocked his way with all his might, but his meager strength did nothing to move the mass of scales more than a few inches. Toothless hummed in his sleep. Hiccup glared. "Wake _up, _you useless reptile! I need to go see what dad wants before he-"

"Hiccup," His door opened suddenly, and Stoick pushed his form through the doorway, "Do you know what happened to-" The man stopped short as he caught sight of the heap of black curled around his son.

Hiccup waved nervously at his father. "Uh… Mornin', dad." He said, and looked down to try and shove Toothless' tail out of the way again. "Sorry… Kinda… Stuck…" He grunted between shoving and pulling and pushing vainly at the thick tail. At last, he sighed and sat back. "Is there something you wanted?" He asked awkwardly, Toothless purring next to him.

Stoick took a moment to answer. "I was just wondering what happened to… Him." The man gestured towards Toothless. "But… I suppose I have my answer."

Hiccup mustered a crooked smile. "Well… He doesn't have to sleep in front of the door anymore." The boy said optimistically.

Stoick nodded absently, and considered how Toothless had held Hiccup in a similar grasp when he'd fallen through the flames from the sky after downing the Green Death. Of course, Hiccup wouldn't remember that, but Stoick remembered the sight as clear as day, and noted how, even in sleep, the dragon guarded Hiccup like his own hatchling. In that moment, Stoick realized just how protective the dragon was of his son, and felt a strange emotion bubble up inside him – respect.

"Well." The Viking said after a moment of thought. "I suppose that solves the sleeping arrangements."

Hiccup looked down at the great black head resting halfway on his lap, and patted it affectionately. Toothless cooed contentedly, and Hiccup smiled back up at his dad.

"Yeah, I guess it does."


	2. Some Things Never Change

Author's Note:

I cannot believe how much everyone liked my little one-shot! It's amazing, really. Just a little exercise to get my creative juices flowing, and for some reason, you guys seem to love it.

So, as a thank-you for the staggering 3,000+ hits, the 140 favorites and the 33 wonderful reviews, I give you:

**THE SEQUEL**

_Six Years Later…_

It was a peaceful morning in the small village of Berk. Well, as peaceful as a Viking village _can _be. Sure, there was the stray axe thrown here, and the occasional dragon shooting flame there, but overall, the streets were quiet, the air calm. The sun was casting beautiful purple and pink rays across the clouds that lay against the horizon, and the sheep were grazing peacefully on the sloped hillside with no fear of dragon abduction. All in all, with the clear, serene skies and the refreshing wind that wound around the houses, the morning could be best described as-

"_TOOTHLESS!_"

Well, on second thought, the full extent of the morning's peacefulness may never be known in its entirety, because the reverie was abruptly broken by an enraged cry sounding from the tall house at the top of the hill. The Chieftain's house, to be precise, though anyone listening would note that it was not the chieftain himself who was presently sounding various expressions of his frustration towards a certain someone.

Some_thing, _actually. A dragon. A black dragon, who was currently lying, as motionless and heavy as a rock, asleep against the door.

Hiccup shoved for all he was worth against the huge beast, but the Night Fury didn't move a single inch, and his sleepy dragon smile didn't so much as twitch. Grunting, groaning and letting slip the occasional curse, the decidedly frustrated Viking heaved at the dragon's sides, trying to get him to move. He tried to open his door again, but the situation seemed to have worsened rather than gotten any better than before. Turning, Hiccup glared down at his dragon with as much detestation as he could muster.

Late. He was going to be _late! _What horrible thing had he done to make the gods hate him so much as to make him _late for his own wedding?! _And all because of a stupid _dragon! _Sure, said dragon had saved his life multiple times, and served as an integral catalyst in the peace between Vikings and dragons, but at the moment, all the dragon was doing was being an enormous pain in the neck.

Toothless had been sleeping upstairs in Hiccup's room for the better part of six years, ever since the dragon and Hiccup's father, Stoick, had butted heads over where a Night Fury (an over protective one, at that) should sleep at night. For a while, especially when Hiccup was having trouble with his leg or dealing with painful memories of the battle, the boy would sleep next to Toothless, tucked under his wing. However, as time wore on, this happened less and less and Hiccup occupied his own bed while Toothless contented himself with the floor. Still, that didn't mean that Toothless was going to let his human out of his sight any time soon. Ever since the slight shift in sleeping arrangements, the black dragon had taken to sleeping near Hiccup's bed, by the door. Normally, though, he spared enough room for Hiccup to pass him in the morning.

Apparently, today (of all days under the sun) things were going to be different.

A few more minutes of shoving and grumbling and hitting and cursing, and Toothless still hadn't budged. Hiccup stood and ran frustrated hands through his hair. With an angry shout, Hiccup drew back his right foot and swung it as hard as he could to contact the dragon's side. This didn't seem to effect Toothless in the slightest, but the movement caused Hiccup to loose balance off of his metal leg and he very suddenly and very painfully fell to the floor on his rump.

"Ow! Oh, for the love of… _Toothless!" _He hissed menacingly, which had no perceivable effect on the beast's slumber, "So help me," Hiccup's voice was rising in volume, "If you do not move your black-scaled, useless excuse for a reptilian hide _out of my way_ in the next _three _seconds, I swear I'm going to-"

"Hiccup?" A voice sounded from the other side of the door.

"Astrid?" Hiccup looked up, the anger in his voice replaced now by confusion.

"What are you doing? Your father said you were running late. What's taking so long?"

Hiccup sighed and glared down at his dragon. "Toothless won't let me leave."

"Why not?"

"He's asleep. He won't move away from the door."

There was a silence, and then… Wait, no, she wasn't – she couldn't be – she_ was. _Astrid was _laughing _at him. Giggling, more like, but Hiccup didn't care – the two were both just as humiliating. Blushing half out of embarrassment, half out of anger, he let out a sigh and crossed his arms in a sulky, childish way.

"Yes, it's all very funny. Just _hilarious._" He said, his voice reeking of dry sarcasm.

Astrid just laughed harder. He rolled his eyes and then glared daggers in Toothless' general direction.

Once Astrid had calmed down enough to talk (though Hiccup could still hear the smile in her voice) she said:

"Asleep? Oh, and here I was thinking that something horrible had happened… Oh, Toothless…" She then switched tones, and Hiccup could hear a rustle of fabric as she knelt down by the door. "Toothless? Hey, bud, you need to wake up so Hiccup can get out and start getting ready, okay?"

_Oh, right. _Hiccup thought, _Like __**that's **__going to work. I spend all morning shoving and shouting, and she thinks she can just come over here and- _

And then, to Hiccup's utter shock, bewilderment and ultimate chagrin, Toothless casually opened his eyes as he recognized Astrid's voice, stood, sniffed and the bottom of the doorway, looked up at his master, and courteously moved out of the way, as if nothing was at all amiss.

He was so taken aback that all he could do was sit there and stare at the space where Toothless had been, his mouth hanging open like an idiot. In fact, he couldn't even bring himself to open the now accessible door. It was Astrid who finally turned the latch and let the wood door swing open.

"Why, that favoritist, disrespectful overgrown lump of-"

"Aw, he's not so bad, is he?" Astrid said, cooing as she scratched under Toothless' chin. "No he's not." She smiled at the puppy-like eyes of the dragon and then looked back up at Hiccup.

"Really, maybe if you tried asking nicely, he might listen to you once in a while." She said, looking back up at Hiccup. Toothless followed her gaze with an agreeing look.

"What? That doesn't even- AHH!" So caught up in being aghast, Hiccup hadn't bothered to look at Astrid yet, but when he did and caught sight of the formal, traditional Viking dress she was wearing, he suddenly remembered why exactly he was supposed to be leaving the house in the first place, and just how many traditions they were breaking in that moment. "What are you doing here?! You can't be here!" He was extremely alarmed – after all, the groom was _never _supposed to see, much less talk to his bride so soon before the ceremony. He planted a hand over his eyes. "Out! Out out out!"

Astrid would have very much liked to stayed and tease him endlessly for his comical behavior, but, despite her rebellious streak, she did respect tradition, and so satisfied herself with a dramatic roll of the eyes and a shake of the head, before she turned on her heel, patting Toothless on the head as she left.

"I'm going, I'm going. Just don't let him fall asleep again." She paused at the door and grinned at Toothless.

"Good boy." She told him. She opened her mouth to say something to Hiccup, but was interrupted by a bellow from downstairs.

"ASTRID! So help me if your mother finds out about this, she'll have my hide! I was supposed to keep you indoors!" Ruffnut's voice carried up the stairs.

"I am indoors!" Astrid protested.

"Oh, that's not- Just get your butt down here before I come up there and drag you down myself!"

Astrid sighed. "Well, alright…" She turned towards her fiancée. "Hiccup, I'll-"

"Wait, _what?! __**Hiccup**__ is up there?! _Why by Thor's hammer aren't you with your father at town hall? And _why_ in Odin's name are you _talking to Astrid?!"_

"I tried to tell her to leave," Hiccup cried, hand still over his eyes, "But she won't-"

"_HICCUP HORRENDOUS HADDOCK III, do you realize what your father will do to me?! _Astrid, get your tradition-breaking butt down here and Hiccup, get to Town Hall before your father comes and finds you chatting with your fiancée before the ceremony!"

"But I-"

"_GET!_"

Hiccup sighed, but Astrid gave a snort of laughter.

"Oh, tradition. Gotta love it." She then left, and Hiccup could hear Ruffnut lecturing her on tradition as they walked out of the house. Only after he heard the front door shut did he dare open his eyes. Toothless was off to one side, with what could be best described as a smirk plastered to his scaly mouth. Hiccup narrowed his eyes at the dragon.

"Don't look at me like that. This is all your fault, you know." Hiccup thought he'd glared enough daggers at Toothless that the dragon would be suitably chastened, but as he walked out the door, he could have sworn he heard deep, rumbling laughter.

* * *

Astrid let out a yawn as she walked out into the main room of the house, wrapping her arms around her waist as she watched the sunrise from the large window. She could see her Nadder stretching and beating her wings as she rose from her sleep. The sight made her smile, and she sighed contentedly as she continued to watch the sunrise.

She and Hiccup had been married for several weeks now, and were falling into the new routine and order of married life. A 'new normal', as Hiccup had called it. Along with growing used to the fact that she was now a wife, Astrid was also growing accustomed to a new living space. She and Hiccup, along with their families, had been hard at work for months before the actual wedding building a new house for the couple to move in to once they were wed. It was close to Hiccup's childhood home, and had a beautiful view of the east sea. It was a very large house compared to the home she'd grown up in, though she knew that it was smaller than the Chieftain's home. Though she had initially assumed that Hiccup would build the house with only one floor, because of his leg, there were two stories to their home, and a permanent set of weights, levers, ropes and pulleys sat side-by-side with the stairwell to hoist Hiccup up to the second floor whenever he liked. It was one of the things she liked about her knew house – Hiccup had drawn up the entire floor plan, and so naturally, the entire place was ridden with touches of 'Hiccup flair'. Gadgets and thingamabobs sitting about the rooms, strange mechanics built into the walls, and a whole room, dubbed as the 'drawing room', with a desk and chair, already overflowing with Hiccup's sketches for multiple ideas on who knows what.

Astrid had decided very quickly that she liked this 'new normal'. She breathed in a breath of the brisk morning air. Yes, she liked it very much. From her viewpoint at the window, she could see her dragon start towards the house. She'd be hungry, Astrid knew. Smiling, the Viking walked calmly towards the door so that she could go get her dragon some breakfast.

As she walked, Astrid considered her new life. She loved her new normal – every bit of it. In fact, Astrid thought, there wasn't a single thing about her new life that she would change. She reached the door and opened it, regretting the fact that she did so just a second too late.

Then again, there was that one, little, tiny thing…

Before she could even think to move or resist, Astrid found herself pinned to the ground by her shoulders with a snarling black face just above her own. She glared fearlessly into the green eyes above her and sighed.

Stoick had told her horror stories about this kind of thing. She'd never thought that she'd have to deal with it herself, though. Honestly, she was Hiccup's _wife. _She had been for several weeks now – plenty of time for Toothless to realize that she wasn't going to maim, kill or destroy the man she now called husband. In all truth, she didn't think that Toothless would ever mistake her for a threat. She was mistaken, it seemed.

Some things, she supposed, never changed. In a similar way, the solution she employed to solve her current problem was rather similar to that which Stoick had used – or at least, so she'd been told. With a heavy sigh, Astrid huffed up at her bangs, turned her head towards the room where Hiccup was still sleeping, and drew breath.

"HICCUP!"

_~The End~_

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_Well, there you have it. I hope it somehow measured up to the original, though I personally enjoyed the first installment more. :P Thanks, guys, for the great reviews and all those favorites! I'll love you even more if you review this one, too!_  
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